Lucy
by eskimobee
Summary: Lucy Jones, 11 years old and just another pupil... at least, that's how she wants to be seen
1. Prologue: My Name is Lucy

Disclaimer: All I want credit for is the order in which I put already existing words

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Waterloo Road\OC

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Prologue: My name is Lucy

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My name is Lucy Jones, I am 11 years old and today was my first day at a new school. Like all year sevens, the entry into secondary education scared me.

But I would be totally alone.

I was coming from a primary school that no other pupils at my school had gone to.

I'd made my choice, and for as long as possible, I would stick to it.

This would be my first time in a mainstream school.

My name is Lucy Jones and I am deaf.


	2. Chapter One: And So We Begin

Disclaimer: All I want credit for is the order in which I put already existing words

Peeps what I made up, innit- Lucy Jones, 11, pupil; Janet Howard, 31, interpreter; Rylan and Clara Burnsley, 16 and 11, pupils; Celeste and Aubrey Newberry, 11 and 15, pupils; Hannah Aldridge 27, teacher

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Waterloo Road\OC

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Chapter One: And So We Begin

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Michael surveyed the pupils gathered in the assembly hall for the start of term welcome. He was looking for one pupil in particular, Lucy Jones. He would know her by her interpreter, who would go with her everywhere. He finally spotted Janet Howard standing at the back, beside a small girl, he assumed was Lucy. In typical Year 7 style, Lucy had a large bag that looked like she could almost fit in it. He should get started on his welcome, but his two deputies were nowhere to be seen. Finally, Sian Diamond and Tom Clarkson came through the door, herding a few final stragglers. He could begin.

"Welcome back to Waterloo Road everyone. I hope you all had a fun and productive summer. Welcome to the new year sevens, and to a few new faces on the faculty who, I'm sure you will get to know over the next few days. Now. Timetables will be handed out in your registration classes and there are a few new changes to the curriculum which we hope you will find prove useful." At that moment, Michael noticed a few of the boys at the back of the room talking and laughing. "Boys, at the back. I hope you would like to share what you find so funny with me and the rest of the school. Well, Denzil?"

"Naw sir, it's alright."

"You obviously think there is something more important than your education. Please do share. What about you, Rylan?"

Rylan Burnsley stood up and spoke without a blink of an eye "It's the spaz, innit? Why she not at some special school?"

"Mr Burnsley, that language and attitude is not tolerated here, you know that. Cooler now. And I'm very disappointed that I have to resort to this so early in the term."

"Yeah, whatever." Rylan turned, smirked at Lucy and sauntered out the door.

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, Waterloo Road welcomes you all new faces, and some that are a bit more familiar. I was hoping to enlighten new pupils and refresh the memories of current pupils on our discipline policy in a better way, but I suppose after that little outburst, Rylan Burnsley has done all the legwork for me."

_I lasted one day. Not even one day. Half an hour on the premises and already the name calling and isolation begins. Janet didn't translate for me, but from people's reactions and expressions, I got the gist. I was also close enough to lip read some of what the boy who stood up was saying. It wasn't the worst I've been called, but it still hurt._

"Let me introduce Mrs Diamond, and Mr Clarkson, my two deputies. The rest of your teachers, you will come into contact in due course. Time for you all to get to registration."

The Assembly hall slowly emptied, as pupils moved to their registration rooms. Janet signed to Lucy that they should maybe get some air. Lucy flicked a sign that she'd appreciate it. She'd already been given a copy of her timetable and been signed in, so wouldn't need to go to registration.

_You sure you're ready for this? _Janet asked Lucy, who nodded in response.

_Of course _Lucy smiled _I probably should just go to class so I don't miss anything_

_Ok _was the response

~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~

Clara had been embarrassed when her brother had been sent to the cooler within the first ten minutes of term. She felt even worse when the door opened and the deaf girl came in with her interpreter. They sat in the pair of seats behind her. After gathering some courage, Clara turned and opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say, so she closed it, murmured 'hello' flashed a quick smile and turned back around. A girl sat down beside her, and introduced herself as Celeste Newberry. The form teacher, Miss Aldridge came through the door and quietened the class. After handing out timetables and registering them all, she allowed them to get to know those around them, until the bell for first class went.

Clara and Celeste chatted, Clara could tell she probably wouldn't get along with her that much, she avoided turning towards Lucy. But she felt bad and turned and smiled again, said her name and talked to Lucy for a bit through her interpreter, who happened to be Lucy's cousin. The bell rang, and they went off to maths.

Mr Chalke.

Passionate about maths, not the most confident at teaching. Lucy enjoyed the class, although people kept staring at her and at Janet. She knew this would go on for a while at least so she just ignored them. Mr Chalk, or Chalkie, always did quite a lot of writing on the board, which did help her stay with everyone else. The rest of the morning was nice enough, she had English with Mr Clarkson, and before she knew it, it was lunch time.

~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~

She felt someone shove her in the back, her hands flew out in front of her and hit the brick wall. A hand on her shoulder turned her roughly. A boy stood there, his lips moved, luckily she could lip read 'alright spaz?' _'I don't want any trouble' _she replied 'don't try to talk it makes you more spazzy. we don't want anyone _hearing_ our conversation.' he grabbed her by the shoulder and dragged her to the back of the school. He shoved her into the wall, she stumbled and fell. She looked up at him, confused and a little scared, he said 'that's for sending me to the cooler'. He knelt by her and gently pushed her hair behind her ears. In a quick motion, her hearing aids were ripped from her ears. He pocketed them and shoved her face into the ground. By the time she got up, he was gone.

So were her hearing aids.


	3. Chapter Two: Rylan's Realisation

Disclaimer: All I want credit for is the order in which I put already existing words

Things I do own in this chapter: Rylan, Lucy, Janet, Clara, Chloe, Celeste, Darcy, Connor, James and Katie

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Waterloo Road\OC

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Chapter Two: Rylan's realisation

Rylan sauntered down the hall with the group of boys that had accumulated around him and Denzil. "Right lads, let's get this show on the road." He said confidently, when he saw Lucy on her own again. Janet had gone home, and Lucy was waiting to be picked up.

"Oi! Spaz!" Lucy turned, after hearing the noise thanks to her safely returned hearing aids. She saw Rylan, the boy who'd stolen them surrounded by a group of his friends. She turned and headed to the door. A hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her round. "I'm talking to you, spaz. Oh, yeah. That's right you can't hear what I'm saying." The boys around him laughed at his tone.

Lucy swallowed and narrowed her eyes. She cleared her throat and said "I may not hear with my ears, but I can lip read. You think you're so great, showing off to your mates like that. At least I'm tolerant towards other people, rather than showing my ignorance through acts of blatant bullying."

Rylan was left speechless, taken aback by her impressive vocabulary. "You're still spazzy though." Denzil said, to laughter and back patting. Rylan didn't join in. He knew Lucy was right. He was proving ignorance by bullying. Having it spelt out to him by his 'victim' made him realise how bad he'd become. Realising he had a victim in the first place made him want to hit himself for being so stupid.

"Let's get out of here, guys." He said and stormed out of the school without checking they were following.

~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~

Two weeks later:

Clara and Lucy were hanging out on the steps by the hall. With the help of Janet, Lucy was teaching Clara some basic sign language. Clara learnt that Lucy lived with her dad, and her mum had moved to Scotland with her new partner six years previously. They hadn't seen each other or been in contact since. and Lucy learnt that Clara's brother, Rylan felt bad about how he'd treated Lucy, but was too embarrassed to admit it. Clara invited Lucy back to her house, and Lucy texted her dad and he soon replied saying it was ok. The two were clearly best friends by now.

After school, Clara led Lucy to her house. It wasn't too far away, so they walked it. The two sat in the front room doing homework. Rylan burst through the door about an hour later and did a double take when he saw Lucy in his house. He dragged Clara into the kitchen.

"Did mum say you could bring someone back tonight?" He asked in a harsh whisper

"Yeah. I phoned her at lunch and she said it was fine."

"She knew I was having Chloe round. Why'd you not go out or something?"

"We're doing homework. It's a group project for English." she shot back "Why don't you and Chloe go out, or round to her's." He looked away "Oh. Chloe didn't tell her parents she was coming here, did she?"

"No." he sighed. "She said she's going to Katie's."

"And Katie's covering for her?"

"Yeah. She only lives two houses down. She's getting dropped off there then going to walk round here. So you guys go up to your room and do the homework or something."

"No. We were here first. You go to your room."

"Chloe has a no bedroom rule, you know that. Go to your room."

"You are so whipped." She laughed "Hang out in the kitchen."

"That's not... comfortable." The doorbell went, signalling Chloe's arrival.

Clara rolled her eyes and went back into the front room, where she'd left Lucy. She wrote on the page they'd been conversing with what had gone on in the kitchen. The door opened again and Chloe Mason, Rylan's girlfriend stepped through the door.

"Get out loser." she said to Clara "And take your little friend here with you."

"Actually, Chloe, we were here first. Maybe you guys could go somewhere else." just to annoy Rylan she said "Rylan's room is free."

She did not expect the response "Ok." Chloe said chirpily "Let's go upstairs, babe."

The two disappeared, Rylan speechless, raising a brow at Clara on his way out. The two girls were then left in peace to finish their project. Only interrupted when Rylan's stereo was turned on with the bass so high it shook the house.

~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~

"...And that is our project." Clara brought the presentation to a close, grinning at Lucy, who smiled back.

"Thank you girls, an interesting presentation. Take a seat and Darcy and Celeste can go next." Mr Clarkson said from his position at the back of the classroom, writing copious notes about the five minute project presentation.

The two girls took their seats and were replaced by the next pair. Clara slipped Lucy a note, and the two held a conversation, ignoring the presentations going on. Clara took a particularly long time over one; _'So anyway, after you left, and Chloe had gone, I asked Rylan why Chloe had lifted her no bedroom rule, he said she was totally up for it. Apparently the stereo went on so that we wouldn't hear them having it on.'_

Lucy read the note and sniggered, drawing Clarkson's attention their way. "Something funny, girls?" Lucy crumpled the note in her fist.

"No sir, Lucy just laughed at something I'd written in the project. It's nothing really."

"Oh yeah, what bit?"

Clara glanced at Lucy. Luckily, she'd lip-read and scanned quickly for a plausible line to laugh at. Thankfully, she found something and pointed to it. "I made a bit of a play on words in a bit."

"Well, I look forward to reading it then." He turned back to the current group presenting and said "Sorry Connor, James. Please continue." Lucy looked at Clara and mouthed 'sorry'.

~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~

The two friends headed out towards the playground at lunch time. Celeste, Darcy and their friend Katie brushed past them. They had invited Clara to sit with them at their lunch table, completely ignoring Lucy. Clara had declined and had sat opposite where Lucy already was sitting. Celeste stopped and whipped around

"Hey Clara, do you want to come to town with us after school?"

"Can Lucy come?"

Celeste glanced uncomfortably at Lucy then reluctantly said "Ok. Whatever. Meet us at ten past 3 at the gates."

Clara relayed as much as she could to Lucy with the little sign language she had learnt, as the three girls walked away from them. Lucy grinned and the two continued to go outside. They went to their usual place on the steps, and were joined by the small group of friends they had. Clara did her best to make sure that Lucy felt included in the conversation, even passing on some of what she'd learnt so they could communicate with her themselves. Several misused signs meant Lucy was in stitches, and trying to teach them the correct signs. She glanced away from them and saw Janet running towards her. _'It's your dad.'_ she signed _'He's been in an accident.'_

~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~

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	4. Chapter Three: Lucy Leaves

Disclaimer: All I want credit for is the order in which I put already existing words

And you already know what I own...

Enjoy the final instalment!

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Waterloo Road\OC

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Chapter Three: Lucy leaves

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The hospital was all white. White and blurry. No, the tears in her eyes were making it blurry. The moment Janet had signed to her that her father was in a coma she'd felt like her heart stopped. And in that second, the whole world stopped with it. A hand on her shoulder had brought her back to reality. Janet had signed that he was on his way to surgery to repair some internal damage.

Now she sat. Waiting.

A woman walked up to her. Janet stood and said things to her. She had her back to Lucy, but Lucy was too worried to wonder what she was saying. A surgeon came from the room and Lucy stood , grabbing Janet's arm. The man's expression was enough. Lucy didn't need Janet signing, or arms grabbing her to stop her falling...

The stranger was there. _'Hello, love. It's me, it's your mum.'_

She broke free from Janet, and shoved her mother out of the way. She knew Janet had followed her into the bathroom. _'I called her.'_

_'Why? She hates my dad. She doesn't care about me.'_

_'She's your mother.'_

_'Only in blood. Can't I live with you?'_

A sad shake of the head was all it took for Lucy to disappear into a cubicle.

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Rylan wanted to apologise to Lucy for being an idiot, but she hadn't been in all week. He'd asked Clara, but she'd told him to leave her alone and don't go anywhere near Lucy when she returned. He asked why, and she'd stormed off, leaving him more confused than before. Denzil and the guys hadn't been much help "looks like the spaz has got the message finally." one of them had said, to which he'd surprised himself and them by punching him square in the jaw. Denzil had led them away and Rylan found himself alone.

About an hour later, he was approached by Mr Byrne and put in detention for assaulting another pupil. As he sat in the cooler he started to write a letter to Lucy. He was meant to be writing one to Jonas, the guy he'd punched, but he decided this was a better use of his time.

He folded the six pages together and carefully taped them closed. Then he wrote on another page. 'You were being a dick, you deserved it.' Mr Byrne came in again and without reading what had been written, took the letter to Jonas. Rylan was free to go.

Much later:

"Oi! How come I deserved it? You was sayin' stuff like that too." Jonas came at him angrily

"I grew up Jonas. Maybe you should too."

Michael Byrne watched the exchange with interest. He smiled and walked away. He'd received a phone call that morning and was going to deal with it now. Lorraine Donnegan's offer was looking more and more appealing by the day.

~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~

Three weeks later:

A tall brunette walked confidently up the stairs, led by a small girl. He recognised Lucy. "Ah, you must be Lucy's mother." He said "Let's go into my office."

_'Lucy, wait here.' _Her mother signed, and she sat on the chair outside the main office.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Michael began

"I'm withdrawing Lucy from the school. I've just completed the paperwork necessary to grant me full custody. Turns out, Ms Howard had it after his death, as his next of kin."

"This is Lucy's cousin and interpreter?"

"Yes. My late ex-husband's niece." She became Lucy's legal guardian and It has taken me a few weeks to have custody transferred back to me. I live too far away to justify continuing to send Lucy here, so she will be moving to the same school as my step-son."

"Well, we will all be sorry to see Lucy go. She truly is a great girl." The two shook hands "Ms Bryant can give you the necessary paperwork and if you give us details of her next school, we will forward them on."

"I will do. Thank you for being so good to her these past few months, Mr Byrne. You and this school. I can't believe it may be closing down." She smiled sympathetically "Such a shame."

"Yes, it is."

~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~

A text. It was all she got. Clara hit reply and said _"I'll miss you so much! Promise we won't lose contact."_

_"Of course not." _Was the reply _"I didn't really have a choice. I'll see you around, I guess."_

"Goodbye, Lucy Jones. My dear friend." Clara whispered softly, and got up from her position on the bottom step.

"She's gone?" Rylan stood at the top of the stairs. "I never got the chance to say I was sorry."

"I think the six page essay was enough, Ry."

"No." He clenched his jaw "I don't think I could ever make it up to her, or apologise enough. And now I don't even have the opportunity of trying."

~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~WR~~

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'Eet eez zee end, my dear friends. Au revoir.


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